A New Kind of Birthday
by hxchick
Summary: What do JJ and Abby have in store for Dave on his birthday? Post-ep for Profiling 101 with spoilers inside. Part of the Rossi Family Universe. OC


A New Kind of Birthday

**~This is a post-ep for Profling 101 and contains spoliers!**

**~The timeline from Profiling 101 and this story don't match up, but it's fanfic, so just go with it :-)  
**

**~This story is set in my 'Rossi Family Universe.' It takes place between chapters 34 and 35 of 'An Unconventional Family.' It's not essential that you read that story before this one, but this might make more sense if you have.**

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"Mom, why doesn't dad like his birthday?" Abby asked innocently after Dave left for work.

JJ sighed and looked at her daughter in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. "It's a long story, Abby and I'm not sure it's one your dad wants you to hear." JJ let her process that while she carefully applied her eyeliner; she knew she would be standing in front of over 100 college students that day and she wanted to look her best.

"Come on mom, you can't leave it at that," Abby said. "What happened?"

JJ continued to apply her cosmetics as she thought about what she should do. On the one hand, Dave had made it crystal clear that he didn't want her knowing about the case that had essentially taken his birthday hostage; he didn't want her to know much about _any _of their cases as he didn't want her tainted by their jobs and she could get behind that. On the other hand, this was something that affected their family dynamic and it wasn't like she could dodge the question forever, Abby could be relentless when she wanted information. She finally decided to give her daughter the abridged version.

"Years ago, your father came out of retirement to help the BAU catch a serial killer who had been killing for over twenty years. They caught him, he was tried and found guilty of murdering 20 women and he was sentenced to death. In order to avoid execution, he made a deal with your dad and the prosecution."

"What kind of deal?" Abby asked, both horrified and fascinated by the story. Sure, she knew what her parents did for a living, but they rarely talked about it. Even her uncle Aaron kept a tight lip when it came to their jobs.

"He gave your dad the name of forty other women he'd killed and told him there were sixty more. In order to get the rest of the names, your dad has to visit this man once a year on the day of his choosing and he always chooses your dad's birthday."

"Oh my God, that's horrible!" The teen said as tears sprung to her eyes. "So every year on his birthday, dad has to go visit some sick, twisted serial killer? That's where he's going today? That's why he almost bit my head off when I mentioned throwing him a birthday party?"

JJ nodded as she stepped out of the tiny bathroom they all shared. "Why did he agree to it?" Abby asked as she followed her mom down the short hallway to the kitchen. "Why does he put himself through hell every year? I mean, the women are already dead, so it's not like he can save them."

"He wants to give the families closure," JJ told her as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "He knows that as hard as it is for someone to hear that a loved one has died, it's much harder not knowing what happened to them. Hotch said once he gets the name, he notifies the family in person, no matter where they are. He did that for the original forty names."

"He's…he's like a hero, isn't he? Taking on all of that pain to give closure to all of those families," Abby said as she dabbed at her eyes. She wished there was something she could do to make the day better for her dad. She thought about it while her mom gathered her papers and laptop from the coffee table.

"What about a surprise party?" Abby asked her.

"What?" JJ asked as she checked her schedule on her iPhone. How was it that she always woke up early enough to leave on time but she always seemed to be running ten minutes behind?

"A surprise birthday party for dad," the teen said impatiently. "We could invite Nonna, Father Jimmy, Jack and the team over to surprise dad when he gets home tonight."

"Abby, I guarantee if your dad walks into the cabin and a dozen people jump out and yell 'surprise,' he'll shoot first and ask questions later."

"I guess you're right," she agreed. "I suppose a bloodbath probably wouldn't make him feel better about his birthday. What if we just surprise him with a nice dinner and a celebration at the cabin?"

JJ mulled that idea over for a moment as she checked her email on her phone. "I don't know, Abby; Dave made it pretty clear to me that he wanted to be left alone tonight. I think he's gonna need the time to process his visit to the prison."

"Come on, mom, it's his birthday! All of the other times he's visited the prison, he hasn't had a family at home to help him through it but he does now. Besides, you know if this was either of us, he wouldn't just let us sit and wallow in things; he would do something to make the day a little less horrible."

"You're right," JJ finally agreed after thinking about it for another minute. "You and I will have a small celebration for him at the cabin, but it'll have to be low-key, okay?"

"Okay."

"And your dad probably won't get home until around ten, so it'll be a late dinner and celebration."

"No problem," Abby said. "Tomorrow's Saturday, so we can all sleep in. I'll make the dinner, but can you pick up a cake for him?"

"Sure," she said, making a mental note to stop at Dave's favorite bakery on her lunch break. "Are you going to meet me at the BAU, or do you need to come back here first?"

"I'll take the Metro to the BAU; dad had me leave some stuff at the cabin so I wouldn't have to pack a bag every weekend," Abby told her. "But can you bring dad's birthday presents with you? I'll wrap 'em once we get there."

"Sounds good," JJ said as she grabbed her car keys. "I'll see you later this afternoon."

xxxxxxxxxx

As his SUV ate up the highway, Dave glanced at the clock and rubbed his eyes; nine-thirty, not bad. With any luck, he'd be halfway through his brand new bottle of Talisker scotch by eleven. He knew it wasn't the best way to deal with what he was feeling, but all he really wanted was to forget this day in a haze of alcohol. Sure, talking to the college kids about profiling hadn't been bad; it had actually been kind of fun, but his annual visit to Thomas Yates had snuffed out all of the brightness from his day. He knew the scotch wouldn't be enough to completely erase the twenty minutes he'd spent in the monster's company, but it would help. Besides, the girls wouldn't arrive at the cabin until the next morning and it gave him plenty of time to use Jimmy's hangover remedy so they would be none the wiser.

He could feel both the physical and mental exhaustion take hold in him and, not for the first time, he questioned why he did what he did. Why put himself through hell every single year? Why did he personally deliver the news to the next of kin? Why didn't he tell Yates to go fuck himself and let the judge reinstate the death penalty? But as soon as those thoughts flitted through his mind, the image of his daughter also made an appearance and he knew she was why he did it. While he had only known her for a few months, if, God forbid, she was ever missing…if she had been one of the victims of the sociopath, he would want…no, he would _need _to know what had happened to her. If she ever simply went missing, he would always wonder where she was and he would always worry that she was in pain or in some other horrible situation. He knew that if Abby ever disappeared, he wouldn't have a moment's peace until he knew where she was, no matter what the circumstances. As hard as it was for these families to hear that their loved one was dead, it had to bring them some sort of peace to have closure.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the beeping of his phone. His mother had called while he was talking to Yates and he had yet to listen to the voicemail. Knowing he couldn't ignore it forever, he pressed the play button and held his phone to his ear. Ten seconds later, he disconnected the message as he heard his mother singing happy birthday to him. After hearing Yates caterwaul the song as he left the interrogation room, Dave knew he would be happy if he never heard it again.

Driving the rest of the way to the cabin on mental autopilot, he was surprised when he drove up the long, gravel driveway and found his girlfriend's sedan parked in front of the large house. He was even more surprised to see her curled up on the porch swing, looking very comfortable in sweatpants and one of his FBI t-shirts. As he parked his car behind hers, his surprise turned to annoyance when he realized he wouldn't be able to keep to his plan of pickling himself with scotch since their daughter was surely in the cabin and he would not let her see him drunk; not when their relationship was only months old. With a sigh of frustration, he climbed out of the car and made his way up the front stairs to the porch.

"What are you doing here, Jen?" He asked gruffly since he'd made it very clear that he wanted to be alone that night and she'd obviously disregarded his wishes. If there was one day where he should get his own way, it should be his birthday!

"Well hello to you too, Dave," JJ responded dryly as her lover leaned back against the porch railing and faced her. She didn't have to be a profiler to see he was irritated and, knowing him like she did, she knew the irritation was quickly turning into anger. "Happy birthday."

"I _told _you I wanted to be alone tonight," he said through slightly clenched teeth.

"Hey, this was not my idea; talk to your daughter about this," JJ said, not having any qualms about throwing her daughter under a bus.

"You couldn't have stopped her?"

JJ thought for a second, "Yeah, I probably could have, but I didn't."

"No shit!"

"Look Dave, she was worried about you; _I'm _worried about you! Every year you go through hell on what should be a happy day for you!"

"I'm used to it and I have my own routine down pat," he growled.

"Do you really think drinking like you're in college and then passing out on a sofa is really a healthy routine?" JJ asked with a snort and Dave looked at her surprised. "Yeah, Hotch told me how you've crashed at his place the past few years."

"My friend has a big mouth," Dave muttered unhappily.

"Abby was worried about you," she repeated. "She asked me why you hate your birthday and I told her-"

"Jesus Jen, you told her? Why not share all of our other horrible cases with her!"

"I gave her an abbreviated version," JJ clarified testily. "What was I supposed to do, lie to her? I promised I would never lie to her about anything important again and I would say this is pretty important, wouldn't you?"

With a sigh, he sat down next to JJ on the porch swing. "How'd she take it?"

"She felt bad for you and it took her awhile to comprehend why you do it year after year, but now she thinks you're a hero for doing it."

"Really?" He asked, touched by his daughter's assessment of his activities.

JJ nodded, "Yup, that was her exact word for you, and it's mine too." She rested her head against his shoulder and intertwined her fingers with his. "She's also worried about you, like I am, and she said that if it was her or me in your position, you would never just let us forget the day, you would insist on a celebration."

"So what do you two have planned for tonight?" He asked as he remembered the tim; there couldn't be too much they wanted to do since it was nearly ten o'clock.

"Well, Abby originally wanted to throw a surprise party for you, but I vetoed that idea. I assumed you wouldn't want to start a brand new year with a massacre on your hands."

"You assumed correctly," Dave said with a wry smile.

"So we're going to have a quiet family dinner instead," JJ told him.

"Where is she?"

"She fell asleep watching TV and, as far as I know, she's still on the couch."

Dave nodded and stood up. "I guess I'd better get in there then, that way we can eat sooner and she can sleep in a proper bed."

He was halfway to the door when JJ's voice stopped him.

"Am I allowed to ask how it went?" She asked timidly.

Dave paused and thought for a minute. "It was the same as it always is; no better, no worse." With that, he entered the cabin and found his daughter asleep on one of the sofas in the great room and she was dressed much like her mother in yoga pants and one of his t-shirts. His daughter. He had only officially been her father for a few months and it still sometimes freaked him out knowing he had a living, breathing offspring who was dependent on him…okay, more than sometimes, but it also gave him a sense of fulfillment and, looking at her, he knew she was tangible proof that he'd at least done one thing right in his life.

Her soft snoring drew him from his reverie and he bent down to pick her up. Birthday or not, if she was that tired, she needed to go to bed; they could celebrate his birthday the next day, which was what he'd wanted all along.

She must've heard him as he came around to the other side of the couch because before he could scoop her up, her eyes slowly opened and focused on him. "Hi dad," she said sleepily as she stretched her arms over her head.

"Hi Pumpkin, come on, let's get you upstairs to bed," he said gently as he helped her to her feet.

"What? No! It's your birthday and I have meatballs in marinara sauce simmering on the stove. All I have to do is cook the noodles and dinner will be ready."

He was touched that she'd made his favorite dish; sure, he might enjoy fine Italian dining, but when it came down to it, he liked the simpler Italian dishes and spaghetti and meatballs were his comfort food.

"We can eat it tomorrow, you're tired."

"No I'm not," Abby shook her head, "I wanted to take a short nap so I could stay up and help celebrate your birthday. Besides, it's Friday so I can sleep in tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Dave agreed. "But you're right, it _is _Friday, so why aren't you out with your friends?"

"Duh," she said as she rolled her eyes like he'd just said the stupidest thing she'd ever heard. "It's your _birthday_!"

Once again, Dave was touched that she'd given up her plans for the night to be there with him on his birthday even after he'd told both of his girls that he didn't want to do anything for it. "Thanks Pumpkin," he said as he kissed her on her forehead.

Abby hugged him in return. She wanted to ask about his visit to the prison but she knew he would never tell her anything about it, so she remained silent. After a moment, she pulled out of the hug. "Come on, we can talk while I finish cooking!" She led him into the kitchen and, to his surprise, a bottle of wine was sitting out on the counter and it was breathing.

He picked the bottle up and nodded appreciatively, "Where did this come from?" He loved his girlfriend but he knew she had no knowledge of wine pairing.

"I got it from the wine cellar, I hope that's okay," Abby said nervously. She knew her parents liked wine with dinner and since he was at the prison and her mom had absolutely no culinary skills, she researched what type went with the meal and chose accordingly.

"It's fine," he said as he set the bottle down and then sat down at the kitchen island. "Where did you learn how to pair it with the food?"

She shrugged, "The internet." After that, Abby aimlessly chatted about her day as the noodles cooked and she put the finishing touches on the meal. She chattered about her friends, her classes and her teachers and it was exactly what Dave needed. It wasn't heavy conversation…it wasn't talking about the horrors of his day; it was just a mindless conversation that pulled him out of his funk.

"Wanna eat out on the deck?" He asked as the noodles finished cooking.

"Sure, if you do; it's your birthday after all," she reminded him with a smile.

JJ came in at that moment and they all fixed their plates before going out to the deck. During dinner there was more light conversation that took his mind off of the events of the day. First Abby talked about Jack and then JJ passed on some team gossip she'd gotten from Garcia. Dave joined in by talking about his family and giving up family gossip. By the end of the dinner, his mood was much lighter and he had a large smile on his face.

He assumed, since it was so late, that the birthday festivities would end after supper but he was wrong. Once the girls cleared the dishes away, they wouldn't let him help, JJ brought out a small cake decorated in a superman motif and Abby brought out his birthday presents. Without warning, they both began to sing 'happy birthday' to him and, for a moment, he was transported back to the prison hallway where he'd heard Thomas Yates singing it as he'd left. There was one difference though; Yates sang it with hatred and malice while the two women in front of him sang it with love and happiness in their voices. He smiled as they finished it and then blew out the few candles JJ had placed around the cake.

"Time for presents," Abby said excitedly as she set the three boxes down in front of him. He opened the first one and found the complete series of _The Sopranos_.

"This is great Jen, thanks!"

"You've always been meaning to watch it but you never seem to have the time so I figured with these, you can watch them here and take them with you on the BAU jet," she told him.

"I can't wait; in fact, we might have to watch the first episode tonight," he told them as he opened the next box, which contained numerous gift certificates to a local car wash place.

"And this appeals to your anal retentive, neat freak ways," JJ told him, knowing how much he hated it when his car was dirty. She wanted to wish him luck keeping the inside clean now that he had a teenage daughter. Every car JJ had ever had always managed to become messy inside, no matter how hard she tried to keep it clean and it was largely due to her daughter.

"Thanks honey," Dave said as he leaned over and gave her a kiss. He turned back to the table and picked up the last box. It was small and when he opened it, he found a wristwatch inside.

"A few weeks ago you told me that your watch got ruined during a fistfight with an unsub so I thought you could use a new one," Abby told him.

"I definitely need a new one; this is perfect, Pumpkin!" He wasn't lying, the watch _was_ perfect. It had a dark brown, leather band and the simple but classy watch face was framed in silver. It was exactly what he would have picked out for himself. He removed the watch from it's packaging and strapped it on to his wrist. "What time is it?" He asked as he started to set it.

Abby glanced at her cell phone, "Eleven-thirty. Ooooh, there's time to watch an episode of _The Sopranos_," she said.

Dave nodded and the three of them quickly cleared the dessert off of the table and made their way to the great room. Normally Dave and JJ cuddled on one couch while Abby sprawled out on the other, but that night Dave sat between them and they both snuggled up against him.

After the first episode of the mob series ended, Dave looked down and saw that his daughter had fallen asleep against him. "I think it's time for bed," he said softly to his girlfriend.

"I think you're right," she agreed as she stood up. "I'll lock up while you get her up to her room." Dave nodded in agreement and then scooped their daughter up into his arms. He made his way up the stairs, with JJ following behind him, and into Abby's room where he laid her down in her bed and tucked her in.

"Mmmm, g'night dad, happy birthday," she said sleepily as she rolled onto her side.

"Good night Abby, thanks for a great birthday," he responded as he kissed her head. "I love you."

"Love ya too dad."

JJ moved in and also kissed her daughter's forehead, even though the teen had fallen back to sleep, and then both she and Dave tiptoed out of the room and went into the master bedroom across the hall.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, you were right," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" JJ asked as she turned the comforter down on the bed.

"You were right, okay?" He repeated, louder this time. "I needed this…I needed to be reminded that the entire world isn't horrible, so thank you for that."

"You make it sound like your birthday celebration is over," JJ said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

"What do you have in mind, Agent Jareau?"

"Well, at the very least, I think you'll want to see my outfit for the night," JJ said as she kissed him again.

"Mmmm, and just what are you planning on wearing?" He asked as she pulled out of the kiss.

She grinned as she responded, "My birthday suit, of course."


End file.
